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The tribunal found that one colleague had an English Defence League sticker on their gun holster, and that officers plotted to have Mr Saddique, who is now retired, kicked out of the unit while drinking inside Yarm ’s Black Bull pub.

And in March 2016, the police watchdog launched a probe into the force which looked at serious allegations of discrimination and victimisation at the force.

The first of three separate inquiries into the force under the Operation Forbes banner - the discrimination investigation - has now been completed.

It found that as Mr Saddique did not give a new statement to investigators, there was 'insufficient evidence' to find the six officers had a case to answer for gross misconduct.

Six officers investigated

The Independent Office for Police Conduct (IOPC) probed six officers - a superintendent, a chief inspector, a now retired inspector, two retired sergeants, and a retired police constable.

The IOPC identified 24 allegations against these officers.

One allegation was that an inspector was overheard saying to another officer: "I'll get that black c*** out of firearms."

Statements were analysed and interviews were provided by the officers and some witnesses.

Documentary evidence – such as emails, police conduct and occupational health records, and CCTV of some of the alleged incidents – was also identified.

PC Nadeem Saddique (Image: Tom Wilkinson/PA Wire)

Mr Saddique did not engage with the investigation after "losing confidence" due to delays and "changes in personnel".

As a result, his original statement - from the 2015 employment tribunal - was used.

But after the three year probe, the IOPC found that there "is insufficient evidence on which a case to answer for misconduct or gross misconduct for any of the individual officers could be found".

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No engagement

A determination by the IOPC decision maker said that Mr Saddique's decision not to engage with the investigation "necessarily impacted" the case as aspects of his account could not be clarified.

It added: "No reasonable tribunal could find against the officers where the only evidence against them is hearsay evidence from a witness who has declined to attend to give live evidence and has failed to provide evidence that would substantiate allegations made."

Cleveland's deputy chief constable Ian Arundale said: "The IOPC has concluded that there is no case to answer for misconduct.

"We hope that, for the wellbeing of all those concerned, this draws a line under a matter which has been ongoing since 2015.

“We will continue to assist the IOPC in relation to ongoing matters linked thematically to this investigation as it is important that these are resolved in as timely a manner as possible due to their continued impact on all of those involved.”

It is not within the IOPC’s remit to revisit the matters of law determined by the employment tribunal or to determine if there was institutional discrimination by Cleveland Police toward Mr Saddique.

Two further probes continue

The IOPC are still involved in two further probes into Cleveland Police, under Operation Forbes.

One is into the force's use of the Regulation of Investigatory Powers Act (RIPA) - anti-terror laws that the force misused to spy on its own staff and a number of journalists.

This investigation is being managed by the IOPC and carried out by West Midlands Police.

The use of RIPA was the subject of a 2017 Investigatory Powers Tribunal ruling, which found the force had used the powers unlawfully.

Eight notices of gross misconduct have been served to officers at Cleveland Police (five are now retired) and one member of staff.

This is not currently a criminal investigation.

The serving of a notice is not a finding of guilt but to inform an officer, or member of staff, that they are under investigation and the level of severity.

A second live probe is looking at complaints linked to how Cleveland Police carried out an Equality Review in 2011.

These complaints, which include allegations of discrimination, were initially investigated by the Metropolitan Police Service.

The investigation is ongoing but we can confirm no misconduct notices have been served and this is not a criminal investigation.